1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage housing for storing a recording head that is dismounted from a main body of a recording apparatus such as an inkjet recording apparatus that is operable to perform a recording operation by ejecting an ink toward a recording medium.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A recording head of a recording apparatus such as an inkjet recording apparatus is individually stored in a storage housing, when the recording head is not used for a recording operation, or before the recording head is mounted on a main body of the recording apparatus after it has been manufactured. In this stage in which the recording head is stored in the storage housing while being filled with an ink or preservation liquid, a protector body is provided to seal nozzles and ink inlets (through which the ink is to be supplied into the recording head), as disclosed in JP-H10-272780A, for preventing the ink or preservation liquid from being dried or leaked.
The protector body includes (i) sealing portions (caps) made of elastic material such as rubber and arranged to cover the nozzles and ink inlets, and (i) engaging portions arranged to be held in engagement with the recording head or the; storage housing storing the recording head, so as to attach the protector body to the recording head or the storage housing. Since the engaging portions are provided to be exposed for facilitating an operation for attaching and detaching the protector body to and from the recording head or the storage housing, the engagement of each engaging portion could be easily released in the event of application of an external force to the engaging portion, for example, during transit or storage. In such a case, as a result of the release of the engagement of the engaging portion, the protector body is detached from the recording head or the storage housing, thereby causing a risk of drying or leakage of the ink or preservation liquid.